Buckeyes trying to limit distractions for Big Ten championship week

New for OSU's Meyer, not MSU's Dantonio

Dec. 2, 2013

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Braxton Miller (5) dives into the end zone for a touchdown during the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on Saturday. Ohio State won 42-41 and is now preparing to play Michigan State for the Big Ten title. / Andrew Weber/USA TODAY Sports

Written by

Jon Spencer

News Journal

COLUMBUS — For Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, addressing the media during Sunday’s Big Ten Championship Game teleconference was exactly the distraction he wants his team to avoid as it heads into Saturday’s game with BCS title implications.

Meyer stonewalled several questions, refusing to debate:

A. Whether the Buckeyes are more deserving of the No. 2 national ranking than No. 3 Auburn.

B. Whether a one-loss team (Auburn) should ever leapfrog an unbeaten team (OSU) from a power conference.

C. If the Big Ten has closed the gap on the SEC.

D. Whether quarterback Braxton Miller or tailback Carlos Hyde would be the best choice for Big Ten Offensive MVP.

“The bigger the game, the bigger the distraction,” said Meyer, who led Florida to BCS titles in 2006 and 2008. “We were in a big game (at Michigan) and we made some errors we haven’t made throughout the course of the year. Why would you do that now?

“It’s just the distraction, the hype, the lack of focus that sometimes happens. This is a big game, I’m sure with a big-time atmosphere, and my job is really simple: to make sure the team is focused.”

Thanks to two-time defending national champion Alabama’s stunning last-second loss Saturday to Auburn, the Big Ten Championship Game carries more national implications than the first two years of its existence.

A win Saturday night over 11-1 Michigan State in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium would more than likely vault the 12-0 Buckeyes into the BCS title game Jan. 6 in Pasadena.

Whatever happens Saturday, the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl appears out of play for Ohio State. If Michigan State wins, the Spartans get that slot. Because of the Rose Bowl’s long tie-in with the Big Ten, it might take MSU as an at-large pick even if the Buckeyes prevail Saturday. If OSU wins and the Rose loses the Big Ten champ to the BCS title game, the Granddaddy is free to choose whomever it wants.

“I’m not thinking about losing,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said when asked about heading for the Rose Bowl, win or lose. “We’ll look at what we can control. We can have direct bearing on that. Right now, we’re 11-1. We’ll let that speak for itself.”

Ohio State, riding a national-best 24-game winning streak, is playing in its first B1G title game. It was denied that chance last season because it was on NCAA probation for sins that occurred under former coach Jim Tressel.

Dantonio, Tressel’s defensive coordinator on Ohio State’s 2002 national championship team, has the Spartans back in the conference title game for the second time in three years. They lost the inaugural game, 42-39 to Wisconsin in 2011.

“(The national implications) make it more exciting, creates more buzz for the Big Ten, but it was exciting the last time we played,” said Dantonio, whose defense is tops in the nation statistically. “I don’t know how much more exciting it can get, going down to the last play (in 2011).”

Michigan State, ranked No. 9 in the USA Today coaches poll, has cracked the top 10 for the first time this season. Ohio State moved up to No. 2, back to where it began the season, except this time the Buckeyes are right behind Florida State, not Alabama.

“You’re dealing with two top 10 teams playing against each other with a lot at stake ... I mean everything at state,” Meyer said. “How many other conferences have two top 10 teams playing for the ultimate prize and ultimately some very good BCS bowls? I think it’s great for our conference. The Big Ten should be doing this, and I think they will from here on out.”

Meyer said he has spoken with guard Marcus Hall and running back Dontre Wilson, two Buckeyes kicked out of the Michigan game for fighting, as well as an unidentified third player who came off the bench to join the fray. Meyer said the matter has been handled internally and he doesn’t anticipate any of the players sitting out Saturday’s game.

It’s an even bigger game now thanks to Auburn’s improbable victory over Alabama, decided on a 109-yard return of a missed field goal as time expired.

Ohio State buses were pulling into Columbus as the game concluded and players were watching the final dramatic moments on their iPads.

“It was absolutely nuts for 15 minutes,” Meyer said. “To say we practice (for such a game scenario) every week would be incorrect. You can be sure we will cover it (in preparation). You can say you’ll cover it, but you still have 320-pound men running down field, trying to tackle an athlete.

“You don’t think 320-pound men (in the game to block and protect the kicker) have to tackle. It’s a unique situation and Auburn took advantage of it.”